Wanted: Vigilante group TheFUZZ, for the crime of yarnbombing the Cades Pavilion

It was a crisp, clear July morning at Spalding House—birds were singing, and through the trees Diamond Head was highlighted in a sunbeam. Everyone at the museum felt that it was shaping up to be another perfect day, when we suddenly discovered that we were once again the victims of a yarn bombing! Cades Pavilion was wrapped in a crocheted sheath of greens and browns, ingeniously making it disappear against its background of thick foliage.

Psych! The museum had welcomed back with pleasure the TheFUZZ, the mischievous group that yarnbombed Spalding House in 2012, encasing a huge monkeypod branch in a colorful sleeve and creating a pop-art line through a thicket of trees to visitors’ delight.

A closer look at the devastation

We tracked down a high-ranking TheFUZZ official. (All TheFUZZ members wish to remain anonymous.) Through cleverly employed interrogation techniques, we extracted the following information.

What is it exactly your organization hopes to accomplish?We will not stop until everything is covered in yarn! We have a lot of yarn, and it needs to go somewhere. Hold still, I think I have a doily in just the right size for you!

The past few weeks temperatures have hit the high 90s, to say nothing of the humidity, what do you have to say about the humanity of covering random objects in large sweaters in that kind of heat?Sweaters? What sweaters? I don’t see anything but foliage over there. More seriously, we’ve taken what we’ve learned from previous installations and worked with museum staff during planning so that there would be good air circulation. If anything, it may even be keeping the building cooler right now—it’s like wearing a long skirt. Keeps the sun off and still allows good circulation!

Who is your supplier? Tell us! who!?!?We have many sources for our supplies, including thrift shops, garage sales, Craigslist, and donations. granny2 wound up with quite the collection of crochet hooks after a friend of a friend cleaned out a relative’s house, for example. It can make for a suspicious looking expense report.

We’ve obtained secret footage of your recruitment efforts, how have those been going?Our recruits are all around you. Some of them are right there in the museum

Where is the next target?There are a couple of spots in downtown Honolulu where we need to do some repairs and replacements of existing yarnbombs, so we’ll be revisiting those locations soon. Now that we’ve infiltrated the Honolulu Museum of Art system, you may just see something pop up somewhere else in HoMA…

How do you expect people to deal with the devastation that is a result of your senseless acts?There’s a need for volunteers to help with cleanup and reconstruction! The panels will be cleaned, assessed, and reassembled into blankets for the local chapter of Project Linus (an organization that distributes handmade blankets to children in need).

Oh…we see…where can people find out more?Online at TheFUZZHawaii.tumblr.com, and in person at various yarncrafter meetups around the island, including Pa’ina Cafe in Ward Warehouse on Monday nights (6-9pm) and Starbucks Mililani Mauka on Thursdays (6:30-10pm). If you see us out on the street installing a yarnbomb, stop and say hello!